A bag of ground flint,
The wooden modelling tools,
The oval tools of sheet steel,
The sharp-pointed steel tool,
A bowl of slip,
A small sponge,
A rolling-pin.
A charming rose-bowl may be built up in the plaster mould described in this chapter. About three and a half pounds of well-worked clay will be needed, and the usual tools.
A small lump of clay is first patted out with the hands on a table or board, then rolled smooth with a rolling-pin until it is three-eighths of an inch thick and about six inches across. This is laid into the bottom of the mould, which has previously been dusted with ground flint tied in a cotton cloth. The clay is pressed lightly, but carefully, against the bottom and sides, and then made even at its upper edge with a wooden tool. Strokes of the wooden modelling tool, cutting this upper edge criss-cross, and a touch of slip, prepare it for the first roll of clay, which is made and attached as described in Chapter II. These coils need not be as thick as those used in making the first pieces. As the worker gains experience, he can make the walls of his pieces much lighter than at first, and still keep them strong. Subsequent coils are joined in the same way, taking care to press each against the wall of the mould, as well as upon the coil beneath. When the sides of the bowl are covered, a coil is attached above the edge of the mould. This should be almost vertical, instead of flaring, and a second coil (which is joined after the first has stiffened out-of-doors for twenty minutes) is brought in slightly toward the centre. The bowl is then left over night, when it will be quite dry and have shrunk sufficiently to slip easily out of the mould. It is turned bottom up on a table, and the cracks between the coils are wet with slip and carefully filled in with clay of the consistency of the bowl. After it has been set away to harden for a few hours, it is made smooth and even with the oval tools of sheet steel as described in previous chapters. In trimming the walls to an even thickness, they may be made comparatively thin—a little less than a quarter of an inch. Next the bottom is finished and the potter’s mark made. The edge, after it has been bevelled by eye, is perfected on the ground-glass slab.
